Third division Erzgebirge Aue was knocked out of the state cup in the derby against the underclass Chemnitzer FC. The frustration was great.
When the first DFB Cup round takes place next season, Erzgebirge Aue will probably not be in it for the first time since 2010.
In the 3rd league, the “Veilchen” are twelve points behind the DFB Cup places – it is hardly imaginable that they will close this gap. Qualifying by winning the national cup seemed more realistic. But the FCE failed miserably in this endeavour on Wednesday evening. In the quarter-finals, Aue lost 3-0 at underclass Chemnitzer FC in front of 14,000 spectators.
Aue not only lost the chance to win the cup, but also the prestige of the derby. The frustration of the supporters was correspondingly high. Whistles echoed from the visitors’ block after the final whistle, and coach Pavel Dotchev said: “This defeat is difficult for me to digest. I want to apologise to our fans and the club for that.”
Chemnitz took the lead after just a few seconds, and after 13 minutes FC Erzgebirge were 0:2 behind. And at the latest with the 0:3 in the final phase (83rd), the game was decided. Dotchev was harsh on his team: “That was a desolate performance and not worthy of us. You can lose games, but not like that. I can’t accept that. Just sad what we did. “
The record-breaking coach of the 3rd division, however, had words of praise for his opponents. “Chemnitz showed how you have to go into a game like this,” Dotchev said of the seventh-placed team in the Regionalliga Nordost. “We were exactly the opposite. We produced a lot of mistakes, played in a very complicated way, had little access and lost a lot of the ball.”
For Aue, it was the second setback within a short period of time in what was actually a successful phase. Dotchev led the club from the relegation zone to mid-table after his return in the winter. After five wins from six games, however, they suffered a 3-1 home defeat to 1860 Munich last weekend – and now the bitter cup exit.
What Dotchev’s clear criticism has achieved will be seen on Saturday. The Saxons then play host to SV Meppen, who are bottom of the table.